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Andromeda 203
Andromeda 203 was the 1st unsuccessful mission since Andromeda 191. Crew Final crew Original crew Backup crew Background Andromeda 201 launched during Ring 10, 475 B.C.. Before the mission, CSM pilot, James Bell, fell ill of pneumonia & would be unable to fly on the mission. Milhouse Van Houseman replaced Bell with John Chase & the mission to Triculonia went successfully (except for the hours of landing due to alien hostility on the planet). After returning, Andromeda 202 was cancelled when Chess Masters intended to send another mission to Triculonia. Chess Masters selected Bart Sampson for the commander, Milhouse Van Houseman as the CSM pilot & George Anderson as the PM pilot. However, Bart declined it, saying to be put on the backup crew & Milhouse could be the commander. Milhouse requested that he'd have John Chase on their crew & Masters said yes. However, after weeks of practice, health officials cornered James Bell for blood testing. As usual, Bell was ill & he was at stage one of Titanic Influenza. The only person on the crew who had never had the flu or been vaccinated was John Chase. Milhouse, not wanting to be kicked onto a later mission, chose to have Jake Claude fly as the CSM pilot if Chase would fall ill. Launch incident During the launch, Andromeda 203's second stage on the Saturn V rocket went into a minor situation. The fifth engine (engine number 5) had stalled & shut off completely two minutes early. Similar incidents were recognized in the Andromeda 195 & 199 launches. These serious pogo oscillations were more severe than those previous launches, which threatened to destroy the rocket completely. The mission survived after docking the planetary module. During the inspection of Andromeda 205 at the East Hyperion Spaceport, research went into the Saturn V rocket. Anti-pogo oscillation procedures were added on to the Saturn V design, which involved installing a helium tank reservoir installed into the central engine with liquid oxygen linings in all five engines with an automatic cutoff as a backup. These add-ons helped assure safer launches in all future Andromeda flights. Oxygen tank incident Explosion On route to Minerva, shortly after a broadcast to Saturn, Jake Claude was told to perform a standard housekeeping procedure by stirring the two oxygen tanks. However, 93 seconds after hitting the switch, oxygen tank 2 exploded. The explosion emptyed tank 2's contents into space & caused tank 1's relief valve to leak. The cause of the explosion was a malfunctioning heat coil in the stirring fan within the tank. The astronauts originally believed a meteor had struck the PM (Planetary Module) until Milhouse Van Houseman noticed the oxygen they were venting into space. Race Mission Control in Houston, Styx on Saturn, worked frantically to understand the situation. They decided the only way to keep the astronauts alive was to abort the mission on a free-return trajectory by orbitting Minerva & having the force of gravity send them back home. Meanwhile, Milhouse & George Anderson began starting up the systems on Aquarius (the Planetary Module) while Claude shut down the systems on Odyssey (the Command/Service Module). The crew turned off the power to help conserve energy. Without the computers operating, they suffered freezing conditions & began experiencing hypercapnia (carbon dioxide poisoning) as the CO2 filters shut down. The crew managed to create a carbon dioxide scrubber under the help of Mission Control. Reentry & Splashdown , Half of it got destroyed by the explosion]] Just as the docked Odyssey & Aquarius began to pass Neptune & Uranus, the astronauts were told they should get into Odyssey while shutting down Aquarius again as they prepare for reentry. Bart Sampson, John Chase, James Bell, Frank Johnson, Jack Stewart & Chess Masters hurryedly try to find a way to activate the systems of the Command Module while running on Odyssey's limited power. They manage to get all systems online without exceeding the limit. Claude jettisoned the Service Module from the Command Module, which, without a heat shield, reentered Saturn's atmosphere & incinerated over Styx. The damage observed on the wrecked Service Module rose tension that many hoped that the heat shield had remained intact during the destruction of the oxygen tanks. They came in at the right angle, just enough to reenter. The trio jettisoned Aquarius as they prepare to reenter. They experience an ionization blackout. The blackout made more tension rise as a period of radio silence lasted 1 minute & 33 seconds longer than normal, due to the fact the Command Module came in a little shallow. Odyssey splashed down in the West Ocean, just not far from Tsunopolis. Future Due to the fact Andromeda 203 did not manage to land on Minerva, Andromeda 204 was intended to make the journey. However, the mission was cancelled due to a mixup in schedule & crew attendance. Chess Masters insisted Milhouse Van Houseman return to Andromeda 205 for the trip back to Minerva, Milhouse refused to be on the main crew & was placed on the backup crew, feeling that Bart could use a chance up in the Service Module & the experience of the accident on Andromeda 203 had changed Milhouse's mind about continuing to go on the Andromeda missions. Category:Andromeda Program Category:Minerva